Getting Even
by Craft Rose
Summary: In hindsight, he should have recognized that sensual backless number and those venomous vermilion lips as the artillery of a woman scorned…but he was also a man…and men like him were not known for acting with logic and reason in the presence of a beautiful woman. Sometimes, it's better to get even (Warning: Coarse Language and Explicit Sexual Content)


**A/N: Just a short intro chapter. Do tell me what you think. **

Hermione raced through the corridors, catching startled looks from her co-workers. It was the first hour of her workday and already, the pompous arse had made two people cry; one of them being Luna. Since graduating from Hogwarts, Hermione made a conscious effort not to involve herself with matters to do with Ferret Boy, but his childish antics had _finally _crossed the line. Nobody messed with Luna. Not on her watch.

The door to Malfoy's corner office slammed open and his eyes flicked up, meeting hers with cool indifference. His signature.

"_You_," Hermione started, stepping inside with her arms folded and eyes as narrow as the Pureblood belief system. "I should hex you right now," she spoke through gritted teeth, fighting the urge to grab her wand and put action to those words. "I should wipe that godforsaken smirk right off your pasty mug."

"But you won't," he chimed in, quite pleased with himself. "Because you care too much about staying in Shacklebolt's good graces."

The frown on her face deepened. "Wrong," she seethed. "The only reason I haven't made you wail like the child that you are, is because I believe in a thing called fairness."

Malfoy snorted at this, leaning against his polished desk in such a way that his wiry physique found shape within the thick, unflattering uniform that all Aurors were required to wear. "If you think you can beat me in a duel, you're sadly mistaken. The only reason I let you get away with that slap in Third Year is because you're a girl."

"I doubt that," she retorted. "A real man wouldn't have cried quite like you did."

"Intrusion, threats _and _double standards," he evaluated. "Keep going, Granger. You're on a roll."

Hermione scrunched her mouth with disdain. "As opposed to the bigotry and bullying you exhibit on a daily, if not hourly basis?"

"That girl had it coming," Malfoy reasoned, as though it were the most logical thing in the world. "She was putting a damper on my morning, going on about _scolly pempersickles _or whatever the hell it was. Don't be so quick to assume I'm the only one who doesn't like her. Half the department thanked me for putting Loony Bin in her place."

"That's because half the department has fallen for your false bravado and are either too pressured or too fearful to do something," she replied swiftly.

"You're forgetting something. _I'm Slytherin_. I don't care if I'm feared, loved, revered or hated, so long as I'm in power."

Hermione scoffed. "I wouldn't call being the department bully a position of power, but there's no convincing the son of Lucius Malfoy, is there?"

The hardness in his expression faltered at the mention of his father, from whom he had acquired all his most loathsome traits. "Careful, Mudblood. You don't want to start something you can't finish."

"Mudblood?" she repeated, amused. "You'll have to do better than that, if you wish to upset me."

The fair-haired wizard straightened, moving towards the door and waiting for her to recoil as he reached less than a foot of distance. He tilted his head down, meeting her at eye level. "Just because I've gone a couple years without making you cry, doesn't mean I've forgotten how," he spoke, voice drenched in venom. "The only reason I _haven't _targeted you in so long is due to boredom. Even bullies tire of bullying, when their victims are as predictably pathetic as you, _Hermione_."

She nearly retched at the sound of her first name coming from his lips, which, admittedly, were awfully close to hers. They were so close, in fact, that the smooth fabric of his tie made contact the buttons running down her blouse. If anyone were to have walked in, they would certainly have gotten the wrong idea, but she wasn't about to back down.

"What's the matter?" he teased, relishing the way her bottom lip twitched with discomfort. "Snake got your tongue?"

"I believe the saying is '_cat _got your tongue' but to answer, no. I'm just astounded you're able to breathe under the full bottle of _Sterling Vintage _you bathe in everyday."

His shoulders shook with insolent laughter. "I'm flattered you know my cologne, Granger, but even I have to admit your obsession with me is getting a little on the creepy side."

She rolled her eyes, unimpressed. "It doesn't take a descendent of Rowena Ravenclaw to know the most obnoxious man in existence would wear the most obnoxious cologne to match."

"Would you rather I adopt your precious Weasel's stench of burnt bacon?"

"I'd rather you step off before I vomit," she voiced.

Malfoy regarded her with knowingness. "All this time you've been able to turn back and leave my office, but you haven't because you are, in fact, obsessed with me and you'd rather be in here pretending to care about a passing remark I made to Loony Bin than admit to said obsession."

Hermione arched an eyebrow, a mixture of perplexed and nauseated by the mere suggestion that she would bear such a deep fixation for Ferret Boy. She parted her lips to say something, anything to disprove his accusations, but he beat her to the chase.

He leaned even closer to her, positioning his lips over her left ear. "Being attracted to me only makes you human, and maybe I have thought about getting into your chaste little knickers from time to time, but, alas, my Herbology skills aren't up to par with the bush that's inevitably hidden beneath your granny panties, which makes this whole back-and-forth thing quite pointless, doesn't it?"

Her cheeks blanched. "You — I —"

"As much as I'd love to hear you stumble over your words, I _do _have work to do," he interjected, tossing her an all-encompassing look as he moved back to his desk. "Run along, Mudblood."

**A/N: Thanks for reading! I'll be sure to update this as soon as I can. **

**Cheers**

**xo. **


End file.
